Beyond Memorial Day, honor and house U.S. veterans (Commentary)

If America is serious about ending veteran homelessness by 2015, we'll need a significant surge in investment from the public and private sectors.

Terri Ludwig is president and CEO of Enterprise Community Partners Inc., a national affordable housing organization. Enterprise provided financing for VanKeuren Square, a supportive housing development opening this week in Syracuse.

By Terri Ludwig

Memorial Day is about remembering people who lost their lives while serving our country. Though they are no longer with us, one way to honor our men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice is to ensure that their fellow soldiers are welcomed home with open arms -- and that starts with making sure that they actually have a place to call home in Syracuse and across America.

This holiday, while people enjoyed a day off from work, visited family, and broke out the barbecue, I hope everyone also paused to think about what more we can do for those who have given us so much.

As a group, veterans suffer from increasingly high rates of substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and other types of trauma. Frequently, these troubles are compounded by a lack of family and social support networks. This complex set of factors makes it difficult to get or keep a job and can lead to a housing insecurity crisis, where they struggle to pay monthly rent or mortgage payments, all too often leading to homelessness or risk of homelessness.

Fortunately, we're starting to see progress among veterans. In 2009, the Obama Administration unveiled a plan to end veteran homelessness by 2015 by expanding specialized programs and significantly increasing healthcare spending. Since then, the estimated homeless veteran population has declined 24 percent, from around 76,000 in 2010 to 58,000 in 2013.

That's certainly a step in the right direction, but it puts us well behind pace to meet the president's 2015 goal. Meanwhile, approximately 1.4 million additional veterans are currently at risk of homelessness today due to poverty, lack of support networks or substandard housing conditions, according to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. In other words, if America is serious about ending veteran homelessness in the next year and a half, we'll need to see a significant surge in investment from the public and private sectors.

Government funding, while necessary, is limited, and available services are often at capacity. Therefore, businesses and nonprofits in the private sector must increase collaboration with government to help community groups provide veterans with access to housing, jobs, education, and health care -- in turn helping to make government dollars go further than ever before.

As one example, First Lady Michelle Obama last month announced the Philanthropy-Joining Forces Impact Pledge, which includes more than $170 million in funding from philanthropies and corporations to provide important services to veterans and their families. This type of large-scale, cross-sector collaboration is essential to meeting the needs of veterans. And when combined with effective tools -- like the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit -- that efficiently use tax dollars to attract significant private investment in affordable housing for veterans, even greater progress is possible.

Vulnerable people in our communities who gain access to housing and services have higher chances of becoming healthy members of society again. Research indicates that permanent supportive housing -- which connects an affordable home to social services like nutrition assistance, employment training and counseling programs -- is crucial for keeping at-risk and homeless veterans off the streets. That's promising news for veterans living at Van Keuren Square, which celebrates its official grand opening Friday. Located in Syracuse's Near Eastside neighborhood, the affordable development features 25 apartments with supportive services for veterans provided by the Syracuse Veterans Administration, including case management, medical care, alcohol and substance abuse treatment, mental health counseling, job training and employment opportunities.

Experience also suggests that community-based, nonprofit, "veterans helping veterans" groups -- featuring housing with the camaraderie of living with fellow veterans who are also working to improve their own lives -- are effective rehabilitators for homeless and at-risk veterans.

Let's commit to honoring our veterans beyond Memorial Day by ensuring they have a decent, affordable place to call home. Supportive housing is a necessary component of ending veteran homelessness, and the Obama Administration should work with the public and private sectors to make it a chief priority. After all, a stable home is the foundation for a life of well-being and opportunity, and that's something worth remembering.

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